Boston Red Sox: Mike Napoli on Triumph, Tragedy and One Boston Day
Mike Napoli found exactly what he was looking for during his time with the Boston Red Sox.
Oxford’s Dictionary defines a contender as “a person or group competing with others to achieve a higher goal”. In professional baseball, there are contenders that hail from all across the world. These gifted individuals are blessed with the work ethic, ability, and mental toughness to compete on the biggest stage and work their whole lives towards completing that goal. Some play strictly for passion and others for money while the few and far between play to be remembered. They play to be immortalized and for their names to be synonymous with champion.
But what is a champion? Oxford’s Dictionary defines a champion as “a person who has defeated or surpassed all rivals in a competition”. But at what point in a career does a player cross that bridge? At what point is he able to pass that threshold from contender to champion? For some players, that happens earlier than others.
In 2013, the Boston Red Sox called up top prospect Xander Bogaerts to aid in their playoff run. Soon thereafter, Boagerts was able to call himself a champion. At just 20 years of age, this baby-faced kid from Aruba, with just under 20 Major League games under his belt had accomplished something few players get to do in their careers and something even fewer players get a second chance at.
Coming off of his lone All-Star campaign with the Texas Rangers, first baseman Mike Napoli was searching for something. Having been in the big leagues for seven seasons, Napoli was known around the league as a team-first player and a power threat at the plate- a great combination for the way Boston’s roster was being constructed.
After having a multi-year deal fall through due to a hip condition-avascular necrosis- Napoli and Boston came to terms on a one-year pact.
“To be honest I kind of felt like it was a good fit for me, the former All-Star recalled. Obviously it was out there there that I had a problem with my physical so a lot of people weren’t going to take a shot on me anyways.”
In 18 games that Spring training Napoli hit .306/.375/.490 with two home runs. Soon thereafter Boston’s final roster, including Napoli, was on a charter to New York to begin the season.
After going 7-4 to begin the season, Boston was looking to sweep the Tampa Bay Rays in the final game of a wraparound series.
For Napoli – and all of Boston – that Monday, that game and that team are distinguished memories of an immortalized team.
As is customary every third Monday in Boston, baseball worshipers flooded the streets surrounding Boston’s cathedral in readiness for the team’s 11:05 AM start time, ensuring time for all to catch a glimpse of the conclusion of the Boston Marathon in what is always an epic day of festivities for Bostonians.
With one out in the bottom of the ninth tied at two apiece with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, Napoli launched a double off the left-field wall sending home Dustin Pedroia for what would be only the second of eleven walk-off wins that magical season.
It wasn’t long after the game’s conclusion that the Red Sox were informed that they would be unable to attend the marathon. As confusion swept through the clubhouse, fears started to rise.
Napoli turned to a clubhouse manager to ask what was going on. “Bro we got attacked,” Napoli recalled the clubhouse manager telling him of the bombings at the finish line.
“It didn’t seem real,” said Napoli of the tragic event. “At first, it was like, ‘what’s going on? This isn’t supposed to happen.’ Then you start thinking about your family and friends and people in the city that you know.”
Before fear could get the best of him, Napoli sought comfort in his mother whom he called shortly after the bombings occurred. As the Red Sox were leaving for a road trip to Cleveland, a city-wide manhunt ensued for the terrorists responsible for this heinous crime against humanity.
With both men apprehended and baseball returning to Fenway Park five days after the attacks, the city could finally exhale and take the leap from grieving to healing.
As baseball quickly gave way to community and family, the Red Sox-fresh off of completing a three-game sweep of the Cleveland Indians-returned to Fenway Park for the first time since the attacks.
With uneasiness and fear that had yet to clear the air from the tragedy that struck just days before, one thing was on Napoli’s mind when he stepped out of the dugout that day.
“We wanted to win for them. We wanted to take a couple of hours out of their day just to get their minds off of it and watch some good baseball,” he recalled.
But that level of uneasiness isn’t easily solved. It’s not like a headache or a cold, you can’t just take medicine to alleviate the pain.
No. Unfortunately, that pain stays with you and that fear stays looming in the back of your mind. Feeling this too, one member of the team prescribed a dose potent enough to not only jumpstart the hearts of the 35,125 fans in attendance but extract the emotions and fears of those watching across the country.
“He earned that respect from the fans, and coming from him, even being his teammate you don’t expect him to say anything less,” said Napoli of the famous speech delivered by David Ortiz following the attacks.
“When something like that happens, you know David is gonna speak for us and tell everybody how we feel as a team. So he was definitely the perfect person for that. He’s a God there, so it was good to have him talk to the fans and have him get us started in the right direction.”
Boston went on to win eight of their next twelve games and would clinch the A.L. East Division title by September 20th. A staple in the offense of the 97-65 team, Napoli hit .259/.360/.482 with 23 home runs and a 128 OPS+.
Despite a lackluster ALDS performance in which Napoli went 2 for 13, Boston was able to yet again come out the victor in four games against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.
His performance in the ALCS however was on par to the Mike Napoli Boston grew to love. Over six games he hit .300/.333/.700.
Given the three-headed monster at the front of the Detroit Tigers’ rotation in Justin Verlander, Max Scherzer, and Anibal Sanchez, Boston knew it had its work cut out for them.
Following a game two in which he saw David Ortiz hit the eternalized grand slam followed by a walk-off single from Jarrod Saltalamacchia, Boston headed to Detroit with the series tied at a game each.
“On the biggest stage he was there, he was confident. He walked with a limp and went out and did his thing.”- Mike Napoli on teammate David Ortiz in the World Series
Justin Verlander was set to start game three and was cruising through Boston’s lineup through six and one-third innings. With the game locked at 0, Mike Napoli stepped to the plate against baseball’s best and delivered. Crushing a 3-2 pitch over the left-field wall to take the lead, Napoli was greeted at home plate with high fives, praise, and beard tugs.
“You’re confident in what you can do as a baseball player and team so we obviously knew it was going to be tough facing those guys,” said the first baseman of the camaraderie. “We always did everything together as a lineup, pitching staff, and team so we knew everyone had to stick with their roles and stay within themselves to beat those guys.”
Behind solid starting pitching and an offense that reflected the resilience of the city, Boston needed six games to punch their ticket to their third World Series in a decade.
In 2011, as a member of the Texas Rangers, Mike Napoli came as close as any player could to winning a World Series. He and his team were bested by the St. Louis Cardinals in a dramatic Fall Classic that went seven games.
Being so close yet so far from something you’ve worked your entire career for would fill any man with pain. Watching someone else take that same thing and celebrate all of the joys that come with it, the joys that were once fabled but soon appeared as a reality only to be snatched out from under you would fill most men with hatred and self-doubt.
Few players get a shot at greatness, even fewer get a second chance to obtain it. This was Napoli’s. The unwavering feeling of not knowing what’s next coupled with the gut-wrenching intensity that comes with a World Series still left Napoli with little doubt in himself and his team.
“It’s because we still had each other, we made it feel like we were supposed to win the World Series,” he said. We were a confident group and we were out there to win it and have fun while we did it.”
And that’s exactly what they did. In a battle of arms and offense, the Red Sox led the series 3-2 and headed back to Boston for game six.
With two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning and Koji Uehara on the mound, Napoli looks to teammate Dustin Pedroia and mouths the words ‘I’m gonna catch it.’
It was an early ode of appreciation to Pedroia and coach Brian Butterfield with whom Napoli had polished his defensive skills with tirelessly throughout the season.
Without having his defense tested one more time, Napoli watched from first base as Uehara delivered a devastating split-fingered fastball, striking out Matt Carpenter and giving Boston its first World Series clincher in front of the Fenway Faithful in 95 years.
“To be able to win a championship after I lost one, it took a lot off my shoulders, man. It still hurts, but it doesn’t hurt as bad as it used to.” – Mike Napoli on redemtion
And so, it was found. After a lifetime of searching, what Napoli came to Boston looking for in February, he found eight months later on an October night.
It’s difficult for anyone to forget the tragedy that struck Boston April 15th, 2013, and the pain that ensued throughout the city.
It’s easy, however, for anyone to remember how one team was able to rally a city in wake of the devastation that was thrust upon its community.
It means a great deal to fans in times like that to have an outlet, to know that for a few hours they can have an escape, to know that they can have hope.
And when the duck boats made a pit stop on their parade route, that hope was instilled in the city one last time.
A symbolic gesture at the finish line of the Boston Marathon by Jarrod Saltalamacchia and Jonny Gomes by placing the World Series trophy and a jersey reading “617 Strong” was the final touch needed for a season that carried the weight of more than just baseball.
“It was something that we wanted to give them, you know? With everything that happened earlier in the year with the bombing, it was a special moment being able to put the jersey on the trophy, the fans rallied around us too and it was just a thank you to them.”- Mike Napoli on the ceremony at the finish line
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After just one season with the Boston Red Sox, Mike Napoli had done it. He signed there to be remembered, he played there to be remembered, and he will always be remembered as one of the starting nine who aided in elevating a city’s spirits by taking part in one of the most improbable championships in the history of the Boston.